Pumping Iron Events
Marvel
Studios and film distributor Paramount Pictures earmarked circa £25 million
for the marketing campaign of its new release, Iron Man on 24 April. (26 Apr '08)
Its stars, Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow (pictured left), paced the red carpet two days ago at The Odeon in London's Leicester Square along with Terrence Howard and director, Jon Favreau.
Nibbs Events was briefed to organise the premiere which saw the red carpet emblazoned with the Iron Man logo and a larger than life statue of the character in position.
Also in position were product placement deals with Audi, Burger King and 7-Eleven.
Audi
astutely used the film as a vehicle to promote its own vehicle, the
all-new Audi R8, which emerged as the crime-fighting superhero's
cruiser of choice.
The Marvel comic adaptation features billionaire
industrialist and genius inventor Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr, as the CEO of
Stark Industries which is the US government's chief weapons distributor. Following a serious accident, Stark creates a
life
support suit which he to uses to wage war on crime. "Jon (Favreau) and
I were big fans of what (Christopher) Nolan was able to do with
Christian Bale in the whole Batman
franchise," said Downey Jr said. "They did this very dirty, dark
complex take on the superhero. And we thought they did that as good as
it can be done so we tried light and simple.”
Gwyneth
Paltrow plays Stark's assistant, Pepper Pots. “Well, it’s a real honour
to play her, someone who’s been in the hearts and minds of the Iron Man
fans for so many years," said Paltrow. "I guess I read a lot of the
comics and tried to understand who she was, what motivated her, what
kind of woman she was.”
While Iron
Man's red and gold armour is set to to enthral audiences in cinemas, it
was Paltrow who enthralled onlookers on red carpets across Europe
during promotion. The London leg quickly became the London legs, as
Paltrow resplendent in a lace Balmain mini-dress and Alexander McQueen stilettoes displayed limbs reportedly toned with her workout partner, Madonna. Gwyneth Paltrow & Robert Downey Jr
The
pan-European press junket saw numerous shoe and dress changes with
Berlin on Wednesday, Rome on Thursday and London this Friday.
The
film itself has had several ownership changes which have seen
Universal, 20th Century Fox and New Line Cinema in the frame. Marvel
Studios reacquired the rights recently and started production with Jon
Favreau in the director's seat.
In
a departure from the New York-based filming of this genre, Favreau
opted for a California shoot. “I've been travelling around the world
and I’m not someone that likes to fly," says Favreau of the film's
promotion. "So, I’ve been from Mexico City all the way to Australia,
Korea and to Paris, Rome and now I’m in London. I was in Berlin, and
everywhere we go, the people seem to love the stars, they seem to love
Gwyneth and everything she’s wearing and are more fascinated with her
footwear than the politics of the United States of America."
Iron Man goes on general release on Fri 2 May
Click image for pic gallery:
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